Polyphylla decemlineata..........aka Long haired June beetle.............eeeeww.....

I'm posting twice in one day because, well, it was an exciting bug day at our house and because I have an 8 year old little boy and he LOVES to hunt for wild, crazy looking bugs. When I saw this one in the swimming pool I couldn't resist prying my son away from Ben 10 or some other stimulating time filler (mmmhmmmm).
It was much more fun for him to poke this beetle (dinosaur?) than to finish his television program anyways.

Warning: The following creature may give you nightmares.
I posed the thing on my lens cap for reference.
At any rate, this bug was over 2.5" long. Not anything I would smash with my shoe. No No.
Oh, and we did not smash this beetle. It was studied for the better part of an hour and released unharmed into the bark cover in my backyard.
:p